by Laura Grace Weldon Air is soft here fluffed silk against skin, each seam lying just so. Here the heft of a Yale ring, shoes that must be Italian, a wristwatch pricier than two years of her wages. Frayed cuffs turned under a decades-old shirt, cheap even when new, mark…
by Philip A. Kaplan If I were to ask you what is the most technologically complex, financially convoluted product you’ve bought during the past number of years, I’d venture to say you’d answer an automobile, a computer, a smart phone or a wide flat screen high def color TV. But…
by Daniel Davis Tammy’s fingers drummed against the coffee mug. For the twentieth time in the past hour, she glanced at the cabinet above the fridge, the one she had to use a stepladder to reach. She could see the bottles inside, beckoning. Just a nip, as her grandmother would…
by Valter Van D Alone In the dark Alone In the night You close your eyes And go to sleep The shadows dance As the candles dim The lurking begins Horrors in the bushes Demons in the trees Are you being stalked Faces in the window Fears in the mirror…
by Crow Johnson Evans N. Scott Momaday’s grandmother shared a Kiowa Creation myth. They came one by one out of a hollow log and called themselves Kwuda, “coming out.” Forty years ago, when I was entering my thirties, caught up in the free-fall terror of an unexpected divorce and unexpected…
by Don McMann Vince put the big Mercedes in reverse and pressed lightly on the accelerator. “Gentle, now,” he said aloud. The car began to move. He gripped the wheel with both fists. It was dark in the garage, but bright sunshine outside. He squinted as he looked into the…
by M. A. Bookout We were flying N.O.E. (Nap of the Earth) low and fast. The UH-1H Huey, Helicopter quickly rose, just missing a mountain top. I had my feet hanging out and swore I could drag them across the peak as we sped past. We dipped suddenly into a valley,…
by Michael C. Keith I speak now from under the surgeon’s hacksaw as he removes my cranium to access my brain. I’m an involuntary cadaver donor murdered so that a medical school can reveal the secrets of the human form to its students. They surround my lifeless body as the…
by Thomas Gonzalez On good days We trivialize the importance Of the mundane Life Becomes nothing more Than a series of interconnected tales Lacking plot Our wants dictated by celebrities Our self-worth judged By the value others place on us Suffering is but A matter of fact Se la vie…
by Linda Scotto I watched Bill Leede shape his mouth like a fish and blow smoke circles into the air. I put my finger through one and pretended to spin it around. We were on a 10 minute break from the glass blowing factory, standing outside where we could catch…